ACC invites Virginia Tech

Associated Press

06/18/2003

RICHMOND, Va. -- Atlantic Coast Conference presidents will
invite Virginia Tech to join three other Big East schools in jumping to the ACC
as part of its expansion plan, two sources told The Associated Press on
Wednesday night.

The sources spoke to The AP on the condition they not be
identified.

The decision to add Virginia Tech was made during a three-hour
teleconference of nine league presidents on Wednesday after it appeared that the
original expansion involving Miami, Boston College and Syracuse would not get
the required seven votes for approval, one source with knowledge of the talks
said.

The suggestion to reconsider the Hokies was made by Virginia
president John T. Casteen III, who has supported including Virginia Tech in the
plan throughout. After the Hokies were first rejected last month, he pledged to
continue pushing for their inclusion.

Virginia Tech president Charles M. Steger was notified of the
ACC's change of heart in a meeting with Georgia Tech president T. Wayne Clough
in Blacksburg, Va., on Wednesday night, the second source said.

Steger was expected to speak with members of the school's Board
of Visitors on Thursday to gauge their feelings on whether Virginia Tech should
accept the offer.

Steger and others at Virginia Tech have been among the most
outspoken critics of the ACC's expansion plan, which would leave the remaining
schools in a stripped down Big East with an uncertain athletic future. Virginia
Tech is one of five Big East football schools that filed suit on June 6 against
the ACC, Miami and Boston College trying to stop expansion.

Casteen, who left later Wednesday for a vacation in Europe and
was not available for comment, was seen as having the possible deciding vote on
expansion -- one that could have dealt Virginia Tech athletics a serious blow if
he approved the plan.

Casteen offered Virginia Tech as an expansion target on May 16,
but the suggestion was voted down by the league's presidents, who then decided
to pursue the other three schools.

Casteen also has been under pressure from Gov. Mark R. Warner
and other state officials to do whatever he could to protect Virginia Tech's
athletic viability.

The latest teleconference was the third among the ACC's
presidents and chancellors in recent days. The calls lasted a total of eight
hours but never ended in a consensus, with Duke and North Carolina raising
concerns about travel costs, student welfare and projected revenues of an ACC
football title game and future TV contracts.

ACC spokesman Brian Morrison said commissioner John Swofford had
no comment on the issues discussed in Wednesday's teleconference or when another
one would be scheduled.

A Big East spokesman said Wednesday night the conference would
have no comment on the report of Virginia Tech's invitation.

William C. Latham, a member of Virginia Tech's Board of
Visitors, said Steger's secretary called Wednesday afternoon to schedule a
telephone appointment for Thursday. Latham said he did not know what the phone
call would be about.

Virginia Tech officials initially spoke of wanting to either see
the Big East remain intact or for it to be included in an ACC expansion plan.
After the three other schools were selected, Virginia Tech joined Pittsburgh,
West Virginia, Rutgers and Connecticut in the lawsuit accusing the ACC, Miami
and Boston College of trying to ruin the Big East.

Phone messages left at Steger's home Wednesday night were not
returned.

"This has been a longer process than I thought it would take,"
North Carolina State athletic director Lee Fowler said before the decision to
pursue Virginia Tech was revealed. "There have been things that have popped up
that I thought had been resolved earlier."

The Big East schools leaving for the ACC must each pay a $1
million exit fee. The penalty doubles after June 30.

"Everybody is ready for this to be over," said Fowler, who was
on two of three site visits conducted by a team of ACC officials. "It gets
frustrating, but nobody is going to do anything until they get all the facts and
feel comfortable with them.

"I assumed if we made these visits and things were good at these
universities that it would just move along," he added. "But I still knew we had
more work to do."

That includes divisional alignment, an item in which more than
35 options have been discussed, Fowler said.

"None of this has surprised me because I've been through it in
other leagues," said Fowler, who acknowledged getting nine schools on the same
page is often difficult. "Even with great things, there are differences of
opinions."